Empty Graves
by Zeef
Summary: A story adopted from StorySmall: In a graveyard, we find that not everyone is who and what we think they are. Dipper and Mabel are tired of running. They want to stay in Gravity Falls forever. A good thing for them, that's actually a possibility.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **This story was adopted from StorySmall, a great writer on this site, who didn't want to continue this, so they let me adopt it. The idea is not mine, nor is Gravity Falls.

* * *

_Rain, mud, and lightning_

_Gravestones pale and old_

_Hear the shovel scraping_

_Through the decay and mold_

A voice carried through the foggy cemetery, echoing off the gnarled trees that guarded the perimeter. Rows after rows of miscellaneous tombstones were strewn over the soggy ground. Some were placed straight and carefully, while others were bending to the ground, with chips and nicks at the corners. It had to have been nearly midnight as the blackness of night spread far over and beyond the town like the eerie fog that came along with it. The moon was blotted out by the heavy clouds which sent the rain down swiftly, but not hard onto the loose soil of the graveyard.

The warm orange glow of a small lantern shone through the fog. There was a soft_clink-clink _of the rain against the metal parts, along with a rhythmic and unstopping scrape of a shovel. A figure was visible in the light of the lantern: small, like a child who had yet to reach their teens, and scrawny, with arms like noodles and deep brown hair plastered against his forehead and neck, the figure shoved his shovel into the ground and tossed a load of dripping mud into an ever-growing pile beside his progress. And he sang, the boy, his voice low like a man's, but it still had a childish ring to it as he continued in his ominous rhyme.

_Scrape, scrape, digging deeper_

_Shovel, shovel, away the dirt_

_Toss aside the mud to find_

_Your sister…something, something…irt._

The singing broke off, and the figure straightened up, wiping the rain away from his eyes, and smeared mud across his forehead in the process. He stood inside an almost perfectly rectangular hole, except for the mud that slid down the sides and gathered in the corners as the rain loosed it up. Despite the inflow, the boy was still standing in a hole that reached down so far, he could have sat inside it and become invisible to a bystander.

_Dirt_

_Spurt_

_Flirt_

_Yogurt_

The figure looked out at the carefully carved tombstone before his deep pit. It was truly a beautiful piece of art, carved in a bright gray stone was a large cross with a vine twisted around it, and one large flower blooming open at the top. Etched in the stone was a name and date, but the boy's eyes quickly skipped past them as he sighed and resumed his dig.

_Shirt_

_Curt_

_Shmirt_

_Dang, why'd they bury you so deep?_

The figure carried on in silence. He moved like a robot, lifting and tossing the shovelfuls of mud away without even a moment's hesitation.

_Lift_

_Toss_

_Lift_

_Toss_

_Lift_

_Toss_

_Thunk!_

The shovel struck something hard.

"Finally," the boy muttered, tossing the shovel aside. He took the lantern and brought it down with him into the hole. Carefully, he bent down and scraped the mud away to reveal solid wood beneath him. A smile crept across his face and he set down the lantern and proceeded to scrape off all the mud to reveal a simple wooden coffin. The boy took a deep breath, then dug his fingers under the sides of the coffin. With a strong pull, the lid to the coffin tore off, nails and all.

Resting peacefully inside the box was a young girl, about the boy's age, with the same chocolate curls and small nose. She rested in a red velvet bed and was clad in a simple, yet elegant white dress. A bouquet of withering daffodils was clasped over her chest by her cold hands. The rain fell in little on her pale face and gathered in small beads. She looked so sweet and peaceful, like a fairytale princess trapped in a deep sleep, just waiting to be awoken.

"Hey, wake up," the boy whispered, giving her a little shake.

The girl groaned and turned her head away, causing some of the brunette strands to fall over her face.

"Hey, I just spent all night digging you up, get outta there," the boy said, crossing his arms, as if this was a completely normal occurrence.

The girl yawned and blinked her eyes open, "Geez, Dipper, what took you so long? I feel asleep." She blinked a few times as the falling raindrops got in her eyes. "Oh what, and it's raining!"

"I couldn't get everyone to leave until it was dark out," Dipper explained, lifting the dying flowers from her hands and setting them aside.

The girl stretched and held out her hands for Dipper to help her up. Dipper took her hands and pulled her into a standing position.

"Besides," he went on, "I had to wait and see how everyone talked about you at the funeral."

"Oh yeah, what'd they say?"

Dipper shrugged, "Oh, the typical stuff: she died too young, she was such a sweet spirit. I almost threw up."

"What, didn't you miss me?" the girl asked playfully.

"C'mon, Mabel, I had to sit through _another _funeral for my sister, watch her get buried_again_, and see _everyone_ crying." Dipper let out a laugh, "Sorry I laughed, but you should have seen Pacifica, she was bawling her eyes out!"

"I can't believe she can cry over anything but herself," Mabel joked.

"Apparently she can," Dipper replied. Mabel laughed a bit, then looked down, obviously sad that they'd have to move again.

Dipper hoisted himself out of the dug-up grave and helped his sister climb out, taking the lantern with her.

"Here, help me move this mud back," he said, picking up the shovel.

"I'm gonna miss this place," Mabel said thoughtfully as she shoved a pile of sod into the gaping hole. "Everyone was so nice…Grunkle Stan, Wendy, Soos. I think this is my favorite place so far."

"I think you're right," Dipper agreed, tossing a shovelful of dirt into the grave. "Half the people here weren't so bad. In fact…I almost felt bad about tricking them into thinking we were related to Stan."

"Did he cry at the funeral?" Mabel asked, stopping what she was doing to look Dipper in the eye.

"Yeah…he cried," Dipper said slowly, still moving the earth into the grave, "He felt really bad and was all worried about what he'd tell our parents. I'm almost glad we don't have any…so that he wouldn't feel so bad about it."

"Well, he doesn't know that," Mabel pointed out, "He thinks we have real actual parents that care for us and would pretty much die of sadness knowing we're gone."

Dipper didn't say anything

"Did you cry at the funeral?" Mabel asked, looking at her muddy feet.

"I pretended to, yes."

"No, like really cry. Like, are you going to miss everyone here?"

Dipper paused and thought for a moment. "Yeah…I guess so.," he admitted softly.

There was a moment of silence between them as they continued to fill the grave.

"You really liked Wendy, didn't you?" Mabel asked.

Dipper bit his lip. "Yeah, she…she was pretty great."

"What made her different from all the other girls you've met over the years?"

Dipper stopped moving the mud and leaned thoughtfully on his shovel.

"I dunno, I guess…I guess that of all the times we've pretended to be growing up around other people, they still treated us as just kids, not matter how smart or mature we acted, but Wendy…she sort of treated us as equals, you know? She didn't respect us like you'd respect an adult, but she didn't put down anything we said just because we were kids."

Mabel shrugged, "I thought Soos was pretty great too."

Dipper nodded and began shoveling the mud again.

There was a moment of silence between them, with only the sound of rain and the scraping of the shovel. Mabel looked down at her dress, wishing they'd buried her in one of her sweaters.

"Maybe we could go back…Maybe Soos would believe us," Mabel said at last, twirling her dripping hair in her fingers.

"Mabel, you know we can't do that. We're dead. Remember when we tried telling someone the truth? That we're ghosts?"

"Yeah, they went all wacko and tried to 'kill us' kill us," Mabel muttered, "But that was years ago, and the people who lived in Scrap Rusts were jerks anyway!"

Dipper sighed sadly. "Mabel, think of it this way, if we go back, and if Soos and Stan and Wendy all believe us and accept us for who we are, do you really think _anyone_ else is going to be okay with that? Seriously, Mabes, you just died."

Mabel stubbornly tossed a handful of mud at her gravestone.

"Wendy's already seen ghosts…and Soos would believe us…can't we just be with them and not tell anyone else?" she asked.

Dipper looked sadly off into the fog. "I don't want to risk that. I don't want to risk having the people we love so much turn on us, and even if they did accept us, we can't just hide in someone's closet forever. Someone, maybe even someone who can't stand us, would find out. I don't think we should take that chance."

"Well I do!" Mabel cried, standing up. "Dipper, this is the best chance we've ever had! We've 'died' a total of sixty times, and I'm through moving from place to place every time! I wanna stay here!"

For a moment, there was no noise but that of the rain steadily beating against the ground. Mabel sat stubbornly at the edge of her grave and let her feet dangle off the edge with her arms crossed.. Dipper came and sat next to her, gazing absentmindedly out into the rain.

"Please," Mabel whispered.

Dipper looked carefully at his twin sister. Her hair had gone straight from the rain and mud was splattered all over her white dress. He looked into her pleading brown eyes. Rain streaked down her face like tears. Dipper blew out a breath, "Okay, here's an idea. We drop a hint…a hint that we're, you know, inhuman, and if anyone catches on and accepts that, we can stay."

Mabel couldn't help but squeal. She squeezed Dipper tightly. "It's gonna work! It's gotta work!" she sang happily.

"Don't get your hopes up," Dipper said softly.

"I _am_ getting my hopes up," Mabel said, hugging him tighter, "Because I know that it's gonna work! _Someone _will accept us!"

Dipper looked out through the fog in the direction of the little town of Gravity Falls and prayed that somehow, Mabel was right.


	2. Discussion Between Ghosts

Hello, readers! This is the first chapter of the story that is completely my own, so if it sounds different than the first chapter, that's why. This chapter is shorter, because I wanted to get it out sooner than I usually do with stories, and because this is a tie between the first chapter and what the next few will be about. I wrote most of this chapter late at night while I had a headache and could barely see straight, so it might not be that good. _Please_ review this story. I adopted it, and I want to see if I'm nearly doing it justice so far.

* * *

The shack was dark when a drenched Dipper walked through the door. Stan had fallen asleep while watching TV again, so Dipper turned it of and went up to bed. Opening the door, the eternal boy cried out in surprise and almost fell down to the floor below him, because he wasn't expecting to see a certain somebody until the next day. Mabel was sitting on her bed, petting Waddles like she hadn't been buried six feet in the ground less than an hour earlier.

"M-Mabel! What are you doing here? I thought we agreed that you would hide in the forest for now!" Dipper cried.

"You said I would, but I never agreed to anything. I want to stay here," Mabel sighed.

"But if they see you- if they realize-"

"They'll think they're seeing things! Even if they don't, they'll think it's my ghost haunting the shack. It could help us convince them sooner," Mabel tried to explain, standing up.

"And then they bring in someone to 'free' your spirit from the house! Or Stan could try to catch you and use you as an exhibit! Mabel, think!"

"But, Dipper, it's dark and scary out there," Mabel whispered.

"And you're dead! Nothing can hurt you because it would pass right through you, if you let it,"

"But-"

"Do you want to risk our chance at staying here? Mabel, I know it's bad, but it's for the best. In the long run, you'll thank me," Dipper said, putting his hands on his sister's shoulders. "Trust me. You're the one who wanted to try this anyway."

"The rain is getting worse. I think it's going to hail..." Mabel mumbled, looking down.

This caused Dipper to hesitate. He knew she didn't like the cold, neither of them had since they died. They couldn't feel it like they used to, but it still brought up horrific memories of their death. They never stayed anywhere where it stayed below forty for months at a time, meaning they spent their winters in Florida or Louisiana. They fit right in with the other spirits of New Orleans.

"Mabel..."

"Plllleeeeaaaase?"

Dipper sighed, "But only for tonight. You have to leave before Stan comes to wake me up."

"Oh thank you, Dipper! Awkward sibling hug?" Mabel asked.

"...Awkward sibling hug," Dipper agreed reluctantly.

They embraced each other awkwardly. "Pat pat," they said simultaneously, then they broke apart and went to their beds.

"It's going to be okay, Mabel. Even if they don't accept us, we'll be okay," Dipper encouraged.

"I know, but it's going to work out here. Where else would it be better for us to live in forever than Gravity Falls, the town of mysteries and monsters?" Mabel asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," Dipper replied.

"... Are you going to change out of those clothes?" Mabel asked. Mabel had already changed and was wearing pajamas.

"Oh right, I forgot," Dipper replied, grabbing night clothes and leaving to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

"You know, Waddles. This town might just be absolutely perfect for us. Twin ghosts like us need to settle down eventually. I'm sure the other ghouls won't mind," Mabel said to her pig.

A little while later a clean and mostly dry Dipper walked back into the room wearing pajamas. "Alright, I'm ready for bed. After digging you up again, I'm as tired as Stan is after he actually does work," Dipper joked.

Mabel laughed, "He says to the girl who fell asleep in her coffin!"

"What does that have to do with being tired?"

"It means I slept like the dead... because I'm dead," Mabel elaborated.

"That still doesn't make a lot of sense," Dipper teased as he turned off the light.

"You don't make a lot of sense, Dipping Sauce!" Mabel exclaimed.

"Shh! Stan is downstairs, remember?"

"He's not waking up any time soon," Mabel said with a roll of her eyes.

"Let's just go to sleep, okay? It's late and I'm supposed to act alive tomorrow," Dipper suggested.

"Alllriiiight. Good night, Dipper,"

"Good night, Mabel," Dipper replied. Once he heard her snores he added, "I'm glad you didn't really leave me forever, Mabel Thayer." With that, Dipper Thayer rolled over and fell into a dreamless slumber.

Okay yes, they're ghosts, but not the usual ghosts, as explained in a later chapter. It all makes sense in my head. Anyway, that's that. Please review, favorite, or follow! Reviewers get a hint.


	3. Trapped Soul

"Dipper! Get up! There's food burning on the stove!" Grunkle Stan shouted, waking Dipper up from his deep slumber. He quickly looked over to see if Mabel was still there, but she was gone. Good. She listened to him for once.

Dipper started running downstairs after changing, but halfway down the ladder he stopped, remembering what he and Mabel had discussed a few hours ago. Closing his eyes, and with a deep breath, he let himself sink through the floor and into the kitchen. Grunkle Stan didn't notice though. He was running around trying to find something to put out the fire on the stove. Dipper shouted in surprise, and ran over to the pan. He grabbed the handle and threw it outside onto the wet grass. It was still raining out, and the fire was quickly doused.

"Nice job, kid. How did you get down here so fast?" Grunkle Stan asked.

"Oh, you know, natural talents," Dipper awkwardly replied. _Well it isn't a _lie _after all._

"Hm. What ever. Sorry about breakfast. I guess we'll have to go to the diner," Grunkle Stan said with a shrug.

"Okay. Let's go," Dipper agreed, running out into the rain.

"Dipper! Grab your… coat…" Grunkle Stan said as he ran to the door with Dipper's rain coat. He noticed something strange. The boy wasn't wet. It was as though the rain was passing right through him. In fact, that's exactly what it looked like. Stan shook his head and ran after Dipper.

"Sorry, Grunkle Stan. I forgot," Dipper replied, solidifying himself again so that the rain hit him. Grunkle Stan didn't seem to notice as he threw the coat at Dipper's face and got in the driver's seat of the car.

"What ever, kid. Let's just get food. I'm starving," Grunkle Stan stated as he buckled and started the car. The rain fell a little harder as they started making their way into town. Dipper began wondering why Stan hadn't noticed his slight transparency, and the rain falling through him. Was it old age, or was he really just that thick? Dipper pondered that for most of the ride, which they both took in silence.

When they made it into town, and to the diner, the pair sat in their usual booth, and it made Dipper a little sad, knowing his sister wasn't there. Grunkle Stan seemed to notice that, and awkwardly coughed.

"Uh… So… how are you?" he asked. Dipper looked up at him from his menu.

"I'm fine… how are you?" Dipper replied.

"I meant about your sister," Stan continued.

"I said I'm fine, Grunkle Stan, really," Dipper repeated.

"You can't be! Your twin sister just died! Show a little emotion! Wow, that's weird, coming from me," Stan exclaimed.

"I really am fine. I'm fine," Dipper repeated again.

"Well… good," Stan said.

"I guess so," Dipper agreed.

After that they ate in silence, Stan not even looking at Dipper as he ate. That wasn't surprising though, especially after the talk they just had, however short it was. Soon enough, Lazy Susan came, took their plates, and left their check. Stan looked at it with disgust, and put money on it as though he was afraid it would bite him. After that, they left the diner and started heading home again. Dipper couldn't help but notice how quiet everything was. It was like the whole town was in mourning, and they were letting Dipper be. It made him feel a little sick to be honest. He didn't need any of it, but they felt he did so now he has it. What exactly it was, Dipper couldn't put a finger on it. Was it pity? Was it respect? Dipper couldn't decide. With Stan doing it too, it made everything so much worse. Otherwise, Stan was acting totally normal. Other than the chat in the diner, he hadn't mentioned anything about Mabel's supposed passing, and Dipper liked that. It just felt a little weird, like there was something off between them that Dipper couldn't shake. It sent shivers down his spine, well, if he actually had a spine it would. He didn't have a spine. He was a spirit.

When they got home, Stan opened the front door and led Dipper inside.

"Follow me. There's something I want to show you," Stan told Dipper, walking to the vending machine. With confusion, Dipper followed. Stan pressed a few buttons, and suddenly the vending machine swung forward, showing a doorway.

"Whoa!" Dipper exclaimed.

"I know," Stan agreed, walking down the stairs inside. Dipper quickly followed. They reached a room and Stan walked to the other side. Dipper went to follow when he suddenly felt like he hit a wall. Startled, he look around, and found that he had stepped into a circle of salt. He looked up at Stan with confusion, and was met with a face he'd never seen on the man before, one that was deadly serious.

"Grunkle Stan?" Dipper asked nervously.

"What are you?" Stan asked with a deadly tone.

"Wha-What do you mean?!" Dipper exclaimed.

"What _are _you?" Stan repeated.

"I'm-I'm Dipper!"

"That's what you call yourself, but not what you are. I'll ask you one more time before I start finding out for myself," Stan growled.

"I'm-I'm-I'm-uh… I'm a ghost," Dipper admitted.

"What _kind_?"

"Wh-What do you mean what kind?" Dipper asked.

"What kind of spirit are you?" Stan explained.

"I-I don't know!" Dipper stuttered.

"Did you kill Mabel?" Stan asked.

"Wh-No! No! We died together, ages ago!" Dipper cried.

"So she's still out there?"

"Yes! Bu-"

"How did you two die?" Stan asked.

"I… I want Mabel here to help explain," Dipper stated.

"... Fine. How do we get her back here?"

"She'll come back at night on her own. She doesn't like to stay out in the dark," Dipper said.

"We'll wait here until then," Stan growled as he put in a password in a thing and left in an elevator.

"Stan? Stan?! Stan, please! Let me out! Stan!"


	4. Intellectual Exercise

Aaaaaand CLIMAX!

* * *

Dipper sank to the floor in a heap, and curled into a tight ball. The circle of salt was around most of the room, so he had plenty of space. He had called for Stan for about an hour before he realized he wasn't coming back up until the sun set, and that sickened Dipper enough to make his legs collapse under him. _How could this go so wrong? Why didn't we follow our usual plan? Why did we have to get sentimental for once? Now Stan is going to do who knows what with us! I should have noticed. I should have seen him for what he is. I should have known he was some sort of hunter. _Dipper told himself as he sat in on the floor. _Poor Mabel. She's going to be so disappointed before Stan gets rid of us. I hope he as least does it quickly so she doesn't have to feel that way for long._

Hours passed. Dipper never got hungry or thirsty like most young boys do. He never felt anything. Well he did, but it wasn't the same way it used to be. It was so long ago now he barely remembered what being alive felt like. That didn't matter now anyway. Stan was going to get rid of them, some how. Maybe they didn't have to tell him everything. He wouldn't know what their souls had attached themselves to, anchoring them to the earth, if they didn't tell him, and they didn't have to tell him about it at all.

Of course Mabel would most likely end up babbling about it, and there they'll go, up in flames, gone.

Dipper refused to let that happen. He didn't know where ghosts that that happened to went. Did they get judged or go straight down? No one tells you these things when you're alive. As far as he knows there isn't anything about it in the bible. He's done research, but nothing could be proven. Dipper didn't want to just seice. Neither did Mabel, he knew. _I guess our fear of leaving is what actually got us stuck, huh? We didn't _try _to attach their souls to anything to keep them there. At the time of our deaths, we never really had time to think, "Oh! I'm just going to stay here on Earth by making my soul attached to the music box I just gave my cousin!"_

Hours later, Stan came back up, and walked around the circle, ignoring Dipper entirely.

"Hey wait! Stan! Stan, wait! Please!" Dipper cried as the old man walked back up the stairs. "No! No! NO! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE! STAN! PLEASE!"

His shouts fell on deaf ears as Stan left with an EMF detector in hand. It was dark out when he got above ground, and there were no lights on. He didn't take the time to wonder what Soos and Wendy thought of Stan and Dipper's disappearances today. If the night didn't go well, Stan would tell them he took Dipper back to his parents so they could mourn together, can drove back in the same day. It wasn't _impossible. _It was just _unlikely._

Stan turned on the detector and started walking around the house.

"Mabel?" he called. "Mabel, if you're here already, I know what you are. I know you're a ghost. Come here and we'll go meet up with Dipper to talk." There was no response. The house was still and silent, something it had never been when Mabel was around, and Dipper wasn't ghosting. Stan walked upstairs, towards the attic.

"Mabel? Mabel, are you here? Mabel," Stan continued to call. Still there was no response. The air was stuffy and humid because of the storm that was still raging over the town. You could smell the wetness in the wood of the old house. It was already old enough to have a ghost. He had never expected wandering spirits to take residence in it though.

"Mabel. Mabel! Are you here?"

"Right behind you, Grunkle Stan," a young girl's voice sounded from behind him. His EMF detector went crazy.

She was in one of her bright sweaters, and she looked just like she did every other day, except slightly more transparent. "Oh! What's that? Can I see? Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme!" She playfully reached for the EMF detector.

"No!" Stan cried, holding it out of her reach.

"Oh come on, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel complained.

"No. Follow me. We're meeting up with Dipper,"

"Oh, okay. Why isn't he in our room, or in the kitchen, or in the shop, or in the living room, or in the-"

"He's in a secret room you don't know about," Stan grumbled.

"Really? How mysterious! Show me the way!" Mabel exclaimed as Stan started walking downstairs again, with Mabel at his heels, chatting away like nothing was different. They reached the vending machine and Stan pressed in the code, with Mabel still talking. It swung open to reveal the staircase.

"Whoa! I never knew that was there!" Mabel shouted.

"I know," Stan agreed, leading Mabel down the stairs. Mabel followed close behind, and saw her brother sitting on the floor in the room.

"Dipper!" Mabel cried.

"No, no, Mabel, it's a-" Dipper's warning was too late though as she stepped over the line, obvious of it's existence, "trap."

"Now that you two are both here, explain," Stan ordered.

"What? What's going on? What's happening?" Mabel asked.

"He knows we're ghosts and he wants to know why we died and stuff," Dipper explained.

"Oh…" her attitude obviously took a sudden turn, and she looked very sad.

"Answers, kids," Stan ordered again.

The twins looked at each other. "Well what do you want to know first?" Dipper sighed.

"Who are you really, and how did you die?" Stan asked.

"Well… Our names are really Mabel and Dipper Thayer. We died in 1912, at sea…" Dipper started.

"Okay… how?" Stan probed.

"The ship sank. We were trapped in our room, with our parents. The door was locked from the outside. The water came in and filled up the place, and we couldn't breath, and it was so dark, and cold, and…" Mabel said, burying her face in her brother's shoulder.

Dipper hugged her and continued the story, "Next thing we knew we were on a different ship, and our cousin was there. No one could see us, and we were really confused, because we didn't know we had died. It was so sudden, we had no idea. Sometimes we still forget, and it confuses people. We aren't like most ghosts. We can make ourselves solid, and seem alive and stuff, unlike most ghosts. I've looked into it over the years, and we don't make any sense. We're too visable to be poltergeists and we're too… we can be like living people more than most regular human ghosts too. You've seen. We're like normal kids, except we're totally weird, but that's not what I mean. It doesn't make any sense, not even to us."

"You're right, you're not like most ghosts, or people for that matter. You're abnormal. I've seen a lot of things in my day, but never ghosts that can act like they're living. I've never actually _seen _wandering ghosts either," Stan agreed.

"Wandering ghosts?" Dipper asked.

"Ghosts that aren't attached to a place and go wherever they want to. It's completely bizarre, but I guess it makes sense that you wouldn't haught the ocean. I mean, it's just water," Stan explained.

"Yeah, I guess… Are you going to try to exorcise us?!" Mabel cried.

"What?! Well if you're wandering ghosts I don't think it would work, I mean, you could just go somewhere else," said Stan. "But there is the chance you are connected to something and we could always burn that, releasing you two."

"No! No, no way, sorry, Stan," Dipper exclaimed.

"If you say so," Stan sighed.

"Are you… going to let us out? We can leave if you want. We can leave town and-" Dipper suggested.

"And have you haught other places, breaking family's hearts? No way!" Stan replied.

"But can you let us out?" Mabel asked.

"Hm… I'll think about it," Stan said, walking around the outside of the circle, heading for the stairs.

Suddenly, lightning struck close by outside, making all three people jump, making Stan kick the salt, breaking the circle. Like a shot, Dipper grabbed Mabel's hand and they ran upstairs, passed through the vending machine, and ran outside.

"The music box!" Mabel cried.

"There isn't time! We'll come back for it later!" Dipper shouted over the storm, pulling his sister towards the forest.

"But, Dipper! We can't leave without it!" Mabel exclaimed.

"We'll hide in the forest until we can grab it, come on!" Dipper yelled. Mabel nodded in understanding and started running next to her brother.

The rain pelted them unforgivingly as they ran towards the forest. The air smelled like electricity, and rain, and the air was warm, but the rain was cold. The ground was slippery, and muddy, and Dipper lost his footing, dragging Mabel into the mud too. They rolled to a stop halfway to the forest in a large muddy area. They stood up, but slipped again and fell back down. Stan was at the door and running towards them.

"Get back here!" he shouted, his intentions not at all obvious.

"Mabel, come on!" Dipper screamed, standing and yanking her arm. Their terror was obvious. It radiated from them, chilling the air, making the rain colder as well. The twins started running again, but they slipped again. Stan was running towards them. This was it. Dipper knew they were over.

"WAIT!" a sudden voice shouted. And there she stood. Wendy. She stood between the twins and Stan. "Stop."

"Wendy?! What are you doing here? You don't understand what's going on here," Stan yelled heatedly.

"Oh really? I've lived most of my life in this town, and I _don't _know paranormal when I see it? I may be a teen, but I'm not stupid," Wendy stated, crossing her arms.

"If you know they aren't human, then you know-"

"I know they're kids. They're just kids, Stan. They're twelve," Wendy argued.

"They're dead!" Stan fought back.

"But that's not their fault!"

"You're right. They need help. They need to be released,"

"Did you ask _them _if they wanted released? They don't look like they do,"

"They're too young to understand that I'm trying to help them! This whole time, I've been trying to help them!" Stan cried.

"So have I!" Wendy confessed. They all froze. The information that the two older people just shouted was trying to be processed through the twin's mines. The rain fell harder, and no one was moving. Wendy, with her bright red hair, she didn't have her hat on. Her hair was drenched, and fell down her back in tangles. She wore yellow rain boots, and a too large matching coat that had to be her fathers. Mabel and Dipper could only see her back, so they couldn't see her face to see it's determined expression, but they had heard it in her voice. Lightning struck a tree on the edge of the clearing, and it illuminated their teen friend with her arms slightly outstretched as though to protect them.

"Wendy, you know they don't belong here," Stan said, tried to get her to see reason.

"You're wrong! Can you imagine Gravity Falls without them? There are so many things in this down that don't belong on the Earth, but they're here, and now they're here, and if they want to stay, they should be able to stay!" Wendy shouted.

"You don't know what you're talking about! You're too-"

"Too young?! I'm old enough to understand what's going on. I'm old enough to know that they don't want to leave!"

"What they want doesn't matter! What's best for them does!"

"What's best for them is for them to stay here!" Wendy shouted. Another strike of lightning hit, this time it hit the Mystery Shack, but it hit the metal on top, which was connected to a metal line that led to the ground and kept the shack from catching on fire. With that strike of lightning, however, came hail.

Mabel screamed as the ice fell, pelting them all. Dipper hugged her tightly, trying to keep the ice from touching her, but the memory of the icy water was hitting him too, and he began to shake. Not taking another moment's pause, Wendy ran over and picked them both us, and carried them inside. Stan allowed her in without a word.

"I'm taking them to their room. You're not coming up there, got it?" she asked Stan as he closed the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Do what ever you want," Stan said as he went to clean himself up.

Wendy carried the twins up to the attic, both of them still lost in the memories of their death. She sighed when she saw that neither of them was muddy or wet, and that they were both slightly translucent. The red haired teen sat them on their beds and tucked them in, then sat at the entrance of the attic to keep watch, so Stan wouldn't try anything.

"Wendy?" Mabel called quietly.

"Yeah?" Wendy asked.

"Why did you do that?" the younger girl questioned sleepily.

"Because, your cousin had a kid who had a kid who had my mom," Wendy replied.

"Oh… okay… good night, Wendy,"

"Good night, Mabel."

* * *

Whoa there. Whoa, Wendy, what's happening. How the- What the- I don't know what came over me. Sorry about that. I couldn't stop. I tried, but I couldn't. It's too late now. It's too epic of an idea to turn back. Also, I'm sorry I didn't update for so long until a few days ago. I got really really really sick, but I'm getting better and I have my creativity back. This story only has one chapter left: the resolution, though I may be convinced to write a sequel where we see their adventures as ghosts in Gravity Falls, but I won't start it until the new season starts. Please review, favorite, or follow! Reviewers get a reply from one of the people in this chapter.


	5. The End

As the title of this chapter states, this is the end of this story. Before you read the ending, I have to tell you I have no idea what the heck that was. It fit with the town, and it was slightly humorous, so I was like, "Okay, it's weird, but I'll keep it." And now I'm trying not to laugh because it's so flipping weird.

* * *

Dipper woke up slowly, feeling warm sunlight on his face. For the first time in days the sun was out. Little fluffs of dust floated through the stiff, warm air. It smelled like wet, warm wood, which is a very distinct scent, but it's difficult to explain. The sound of birds reached his ears, and was the only thing he could hear in the quiet room. He sat up slowly, his blanket falling off of his shoulder. He couldn't exactly remember how he got in his bed. He remembered being outside in the storm, and that suddenly Wendy was there, and then she argued with Stan, and now he woke up in his bed. Looking over at his twin sister, Dipper noticed she hadn't woken up yet. Good. She needed a rest.

A slight sound broke the peaceful silence, and caught his attention. Wendy was sitting with her back against Mabel's bed, and she was playing with a music box.

"Don't touch that!" Dipper exclaimed with panic.

"It's okay, Dipper. I know what's up," Wendy replied quietly, sitting the box back where she had taken it from, Mabel's side table. Mabel didn't stir.

"You were there last night," Dipper said, "You said things about-"

"Of course I was there, little man. Like I said, I know what's up," Wendy repeated.

"How?" Dipper asked.

"You know your cousin Margaret?"

"Yeah,"

"She's my great, great grandmother," Wendy explained.

"Oh… really?"

"Hard to believe, right? It's true though. My mom told us stories when I was a kid about you two that she heard from her mom and grandmom," Wendy explained. "She told me about the music box that your parents gave to Jack for safe keeping. She said that the steward locked to door to your room right after, to keep out looters, and, well you know all this."

"Yeah, I do," Dipper agreed.

"And so my grandmom told me to keep an eye out incase I ever met you two, so that's what did, and now I'm protecting you. Stan doesn't understand ghosts as well as he thinks he does. He thinks that he knows what's best, but he really doesn't, does he? I mean maybe some ghosts want to move on, but not all of them. You and Mabel obviously don't want to leave this place. That's why you move from place to place, right? So no one gets suspicious and tries to send you on to the next place… but you're still here, so that means you two must want to stay here in Gravity Falls or something, right?" Wendy asked.

"Mabel and I agreed that if we would fit in anywhere, it would be here," Dipper stated.

"Cool. You guys can come, uh, not live with me and my family," Wendy suggested.

"It wouldn't be the same," Dipper sighed. "Mabel wouldn't like it. Part of the reason she wants to stay is because of the Mystery Shack."

"I get it. Besides being a boring job and not getting paid much, it's a pretty cool place," Wendy agreed, "but don't tell anyone I said that. I'm too cool for that."

Dipper laughed, "I promise."

"Good, so we go try to convince Stan to lay off you guys on the whole 'being ghosts thing and let you stay here?" Wendy asked.

"Once Mabel wakes up, that's what we'll do," Dipper agreed.

"I'mmm awake! I wz awake the whole time," Mabel slurred sleepily.

"Sure you were, Mabel. Wake up more and we'll go talk to Stan," Dipper suggested.

"'Kay," Mabel yawned as she stretched and got out of bed. "Today is going to be a great day! I can smell it!"

"I think that's just burnt pancakes downstairs that you're smelling," Wendy joked.

"Either way, it's going to be great!" Mabel said at a near shout making her brother roll his eyes.

"What ever you say, Mabel," Dipper smiled, pulling his hat on as Mabel changed sweaters.

Wendy headed downstairs with the twins right behind her. When they got to the kitchen they saw Soos trying to cook pancakes but failing terribly.

"Sorry, dudes, it looks like breakfast is burnt yet again," Soos sighed.

"It's alright, Soos, we aren't hungry anyway," Mabel said.

"I was a little hungry, but I'm not eating anything in this place," Wendy stated defiantly. "I've seen what Stan keeps in the cabinets."

"Alright then… Hey, Dipper and Mabel, are you a little transpirant today or is it just me seeing you like that?" Soos asked.

"It's not just you," Dipper reassured.

"Yeah, we're ghosts," Mabel added.

"... Oh… okay then… Hey! Anyone want to go do the pickle challenge with me?" Soos asked.

"Maybe later," Dipper said, grabbing his sister's arm and dragging her to Stan's office before she could say yes with Wendy following, waving good bye to Soos. They got to Stan's door and Wendy knocked, putting the twins behind her.

Stan opened the door to find a moody looking Wendy with her arms crossed, a hopeful looking Mabel with a purple kitten sweater on, and a determined looking Dipper, also with his arms crossed.

"Sure, come on in. I wasn't busy or anything," Stan grumbled as Wendy led the twins into the room. Stan closed the door after them. "I'm guessing you want to talk?"

"Yeah! And you're gonna listen or else!" Mabel shouted.

"Or else what?! You'll haunt me! Aren't you already doing that?" Stan exclaimed.

"We like it here, and we want to stay!" Mabel said.

"Yeah! Despite, well, you, this place is pretty cool and we want to stay here instead of going with Wendy to her house, or leaving Gravity Falls entirely!" Dipper agreed.

"Why don't you just want to go to the other side? You'll be at peace there," Stan argued.

"We don't want peace! We want fun!" Mabel stated.

"Gravity Falls is better than any peace we'll find there!" Dipper agreed.

"You know what?! Fine. I won't send you over, but give me one reason I should let you stay here?" Stan asked,

"Uh… free labor forever? With reasonable hours of course," Dipper suggested.

"Hm… that's a pretty good reason…" Stan said thoughtfully.

"And we can be like the kids you never got to have!" Mabel said cheerily.

"Who said I ever wanted kids?!" Stan shouted.

"Well, you're kind of good with us, and you seem to want to be nice to us, so…" Mabel explained, twiddling her thumbs.

"Ugh, what ever. Look, if you two want to stay here, you have to promise me one thing: you won't go all 'vengeful spirit' on me and destroy the place," Stan stated.

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other.

"Is that all?" Dipper asked.

"You really aren't going to ask for more?" Mabel questioned.

"That's all you're worried about?" Wendy said, almost laughing. "I've never met two people less likely to go all 'vengeful spirit' on you than these two, unless you separate them at is."

"Promise me!" Stan repeated.

"Alright, alright we promise!" Mabel said.

"Yeah, we promise," Dipper agreed.

"Good. Now that everything is settled, you three should get to w-"

"Guys! There's a squirrel outside fighting a live rabbit made of chocolate!" Soos said, bursting into the room.

"Really?! I wanna see!" Mabel cried, running out of the room.

"Wait for me, Mabel!" Dipper exclaimed, running after her.

"This has _got_ to be good," Wendy said, exiting the office. Soos and Stan were left in the room alone, Soos awkwardly holding his hat in his hands, Stan sitting in his chair with his hands in fists.

"I told you so," Soos stated quietly. "I told you they were ghosts and that they would want to stay here."

"I know you did. I had no reason to believe you on either part of that before Mabel 'died' though, so I have no reason to say I should have believed you," Stan said.

"I know, but I was right," Soos restated.

"Yeah yeah, but you were wrong about me getting rid of them. I'm letting them stay," Stan argued.

"But for how long? I mean, you kind of hate supernatural things, right? If they step out of line at all, how long will it be until you try to send them on?" Soos asked.

"I won't," Stan answered.

"I don't think so, man. I'm more than often right about these hunches I get,"

"But you're not always right," Stan protested.

"But I usually am! It's my job,"

"Not here it isn't," growled Stan.

"But it is my job in some place or another, and it's why I'm even here at the shack,"

"Don't remind me," Stan sighed.

"Whoa, man. I'm not the one who got into debt with the big man. It's just my job to help you pay it back in any way I can," Soos said.

"And you can do that by keeping the kids occupied while I crunch some numbers," Stan ordered.

"Okay then, bye," Soos said, putting his hat on and running out to meet the other three who were currently looking for the squirrel and live chocolate rabbit in question.

The two had actually already run into the forest. They had not been fighting. They had been having a peaceful talk about their friend's engagement and they went off to go to the bachelor's party. Not that that has anything to do with the two ghost children searching for them. It was none of their concern. They had bigger things to worry about.

* * *

Like I said, it's really flipping weird. On another note, what the heck just happened between Soos and Stan? I don't know. I have no idea how I came up with that. What's happening? What's going on? What is Soos? Who's the big man? God? Bill? What? ADFOJNGEIOSJGO. It honestly wasn't part of my first plan. Did I seriously just write a way for a sequal without coming up with a dang sequal? I THINK THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED. I don't know. I'm sorry. Don't ask me about it. I have no plan. Excuse me while I smash my head into the wall for such an ending. What did you guys think? Was that a good ending? Do you want me to explain what the heck happened between Soos and Stan? Please favorite or review! No use following the story anymore, since it's over, but if you follow me you'll know if I continue it or not.


End file.
